Headphones or earphones are used by a large number of people to listen to audio from a variety of sources such as a digital music players, tapes, cell phones, radios, DVD players, and the like. Headphone are well-known in the prior art as an electro-acoustic transducer that offers simplicity, personal audio, and portability. A headphone is typically used with a single ear, using a single audio channel, and in this singular configuration is generally suited more for spoken audio than music. A headphone may also be used in tandem with both ears, and in which case are referred to as headphones. Headphones are generally better suited for listening to music, particularly in stereo or where more then one audio channel is used. Headphone/s are often worn by a wearer while simultaneously doing a variety of different activities. The physical activity level that a wearer can be engaged in while wearing a headphone/s can vary greatly, from stationary/sedentary all the way to highly vigorous extreme activities. Frequently, a significant range in physical activity levels may occur while listening to headphone/s throughout a day or other time period. For example, a wearer may use headphone/s to listen to music while lying down, then later for running or other exercise, and later while studying.
A variety of types/categories of headphone/s designs have developed over the years. One of the most popular is referred to as an earbud or an earbud-type headphone. Earbud-type headphone/s are also known as in-ear headphone/s, earbud speakerphone/s, or as canal phone/s. Earbuds are electro-acoustic transducer devices of a compact size designed to fit within the area of the concha and/or auditory canal of the external ear of a wearer so the wearer can listen to audio being transmitted from a sound source. Earbud/s are an especially popular type of headphone/s to be sold as a component of a packaged system, typically where the earbuds are sold along with a variety of different audio source devices. A particular phenomenon of this is the iPod® line digital media players produced by the Apple Computer Corporation of Cupertino, Calif. Over 100 million units of iPod media players and pairs of earbud-type headphones packaged therewith have been sold worldwide.
When properly positioned in the ear, earbud/s can provide the wearer with acceptable sound transmission to the ear audio canal. However, due to anatomical variation between ears of different wearers, and to a lesser extent ear-to-ear variation of a single wearer, earbud/s may not fit a wearer's ear/s. For some wearers, earbud/s may simply fall out, or easily fall out of the ear/s. Even a moderate increase in physical activity of a wearer will tend to exasperate poor or marginal fit between an earbud and the wearer's ear. Additionally, movement during vigorous activity can cause even a well fitting earbud to dislodge from the ear of a user resulting in distraction and annoyance to the wearer.
Consumers tend to purchase earbud/s without choice given the frequency that they come packaged with an audio device. However, there are a wide variety of non-earbud type headphone/s that can be purchased separately. Separately purchased headphone/s may indeed fit a user better and can be more suitable for use during vigorous activities than the earbud/s that come with a wearer's audio device. One type of earphone/s readily available is the ear-hook headphone that is so named from having a hook or hanger that rests behind the ear. Ear-hook headphone/s are also known as around-the-ear headphone/s, over-the-ear headphone/s, or ear-hanger style headphone and are generally considered a better choice during vigorous activity because of the more positive attachment to a wearer's ear when compared to earbud/s. There are many other headphone/s options such as the type with a band that goes over the head of a user and having a speaker that fits within the concha or a larger speaker that is placed to or over the ear.
However, having to purchase a separate headphone/s beyond the earbud/s that are packaged with a particular audio device is generally undesirable. In addition, there may be times a wearer prefers different styles of headphone/s. For example, a wearer may have a preference for an earbud-type headphone/s when studying yet prefer an ear-hook style headphone/s when exercising. Furthermore, a separately purchased earphone may not have sound fidelity and/or quality as good as the earbuds that were specifically engineered and designed to go with a particular audio source device. Finally, separately purchased earphone are less likely to match the color and/or style of the audio source device than are the original earbuds that can be designed to be a specific part of a coordinated audio system.
Thus, it is desirable to develop a device that improves the fit of earbud/s and makes them compatible with a greater range of anatomical variation and that improves the attachment of the earbud to a wearer's ear and coincidentally make the earbud more suitable for use during vigorous activity. Ideally, such a device would be attachable and removable to the earbud allowing the device to be attached to the earbud for certain activities such as exercise, yet be removable, allowing the earbud to be used on its own for other activities.